1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a method and an apparatus for analyzing performance of building, and in particular, relates to such method and apparatus which analyze building performance by visualizing it in three-dimensional simulation images.
2. Prior Art
Buildings are generally required to render certain level of performance in response to those changes in surrounding conditions that affect the safety and habitability. Examples of phenomena causing such changes are, for instance, fire, earthquake, strong wind, heavy rain, coldness, hotness, air pollution, noise, upstairs life noise, brightness, and the like (those phenomena causing changes in surrounding conditions will be collectively referred to as xe2x80x9cenvironmental changexe2x80x9d, in the present text). Further, it is a recent trend for owners to ask designers and builders to explain performance of the building being designed or built in easily understandable terms, so that owners and expected users may objectively evaluate and compare performance of the building.
As to residential buildings (to be referred to as xe2x80x9cresidencexe2x80x9d), a residence performance indicating system has been introduced in Japan by establishing xe2x80x9cLaw for Advancement of Residence Quality Assurance and the Like.xe2x80x9d The system facilitates objective evaluation of residence performance by ranking specific items of performance. Typical performance items subject to the ranking are as follows; structural strength (seismic resistance, wind resistance), fireproof fire-resistance (fire safety), durability (prevention and retardation of building degradation), ease of maintenance and management (easiness in maintenance, management and remodeling), adaptation to longevity (mobility, accessibility to nursing and daily safety of elders), energy saving (energy-saving efficiency in protection against winter-chill and summer-heat, air-cleaning, air conditioning and the like), lighting and ventilation (assurance of brightness), acoustic environment (soundproofing, privacy concerning living sound).
For instance, in the case of item xe2x80x9cfire safetyxe2x80x9d, the above residence performance indicating system renders ranking with respect to the durable time of building skeleton against fire, the level of fire detecting ability in terms of number of fire sensors installed, and the like. With such ranking, it becomes possible to make relative comparison of fire safety of residence itself. More specifically, if it is assumed that a fire breaks out at the living room or kitchen of a residence, the class 3 of the above ranking requires installation of such fire sensors that enable fire detection at any part of the residence. On the other hand, under the same setup, the class 2 of the ranking requires installation of only such fire sensors that enable fire detection in the vicinity of the living room or kitchen. Thus, a residence with class 3 of fire sensor installation has a higher chance of detecting a fire in the house by detecting it earlier than a residence with class 2 of fire sensor installation.
However, it is sometimes difficult to evaluate the level of fire safety of residence based solely on the length of durable time against fire and ranking of fire sensor installation. In case of an actual fire, other factors, e.g., structural arrangement of rooms and fire resistance of building materials, will also affect residence performances. For instance, such other factors may affect fire expansion (inclusive of temperature rise, flame length increase, expansion of flaming area), and smoke spread (inclusive of how smoke descends from ceiling and accumulates in rooms, and how temperatures of smoke layers increase). Further, difference in arrangement and density of furniture may also result in different residence performances. To facilitate evaluation of fire safety of building, there is a demand for development of a system that enables evaluation of fire expansion and smoke spread based on the structure and equipment of building, as well as arrangement of furniture therein. Besides the fire safety, there is a need for system to evaluate building resistance against environmental changes such as earthquakes and strong winds.
Therefore, it is an object of the invention to provide a method and an apparatus for visual learning of refuge motion from a building responsive to an environmental change both in its structure and in refuge motion of individual persons therein.
The applicants noted three-dimensional (3D) simulation technique that is often used in the field of architecture, urbanization planning, and geographical information system (GIS). The 3D simulation builds such a virtual 3D space within a computer system that corresponds to an actual 3D space in the real world, and it enables analysis of the actual 3D space through observation of the corresponding virtual 3D space. The 3D simulation can be effected, for instance, by using the art of virtual reality (VR) or computer graphics (CG). With VR, one can carry out various active test operations in the virtual space and can obtain feeling of virtual reality on real time basis. Real time feeling is not available in CG. If one can visualize the response of a building to environmental change by means of images used in the 3D simulation, such visualization will facilitate analysis of building performance.
Referring to FIG. 1 illustrating a block diagram of an embodiment of the invention and FIG. 2 showing a flowchart of the present method, the method for analyzing building performance according to the invention will be summarized. Two functions are stored in a computer 8; namely, a building response function 21A (21B, 21C, and 21D being equivalent elements) and a refuge motion function 25A (25B, 25C, and 25D being equivalent elements). The first function 21A defines response 3 of a building and inside thereof to a specific environmental change in terms of the structure of the building. The second function 25A defines refuge motion 5 of individual persons in the building in terms of both the attributes 15 of the individual persons and said response 3 of the building. The computer 8 computes the response 3, inclusive of the building itself and the inside thereof, by substituting design values 11 of the structure of the building into the building response function 21A. The computer 8 also computes refuge motion 5 of individual persons by substituting both the attributes 15 and the computed value of the response 3 into the refuge motion function 25A. Based on the inputted design values 11 of the building and computed values of the response 3 and the refuge motion 5, three three-dimensional (3D) simulation images are computed, namely, a 3D simulation image Is1 of the building structure, a 3D simulation image Is3 of the response 3, and a 3D simulation image IsS of the individual persons"" refuge motion 5. Then, a superposed display Is of the above three 3D images is computed and displayed, so as to facilitate visual analysis of said building response 3 and the refuge motion 5 of the individual persons for the specific environmental change.
Preferably, in addition to the above structure design values 11, equipment design values 12 are used as a second variable in the response function 21A. Thereby, the response 3 of the building to an environmental change is determined from two viewpoints, namely from the structure design values 11 and from the equipment design values 12, by substituting the design values 11 and 12 in the response function 21A. More preferably, a third viewpoint of indoor goods (such as furniture) disposed in the building may be included in determining the response 3 of the building. More particularly, the response function 21A for determining the response 3 of the building may have three variables; namely, structure design values 11, equipment design values 12, and attributes 13 of indoor goods.
Again referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, an apparatus for analyzing building performance according to the present invention comprises a memory 20 storing a building response function 21A that defines building response 3 of the building and the inside thereof to a specific environmental change in terms of the structure of the building, and a refuge motion function 25A that defines refuge motion 5 of individual persons in the building in terms of both attributes 15 of the individual persons and said building response 3 of the building; an input means 10 for entering design values 11 of the structure of the building and attributes 15 of the individual persons; an operating means 26 for computing the building response 3 by substituting design values 11 of the structure of the building into the building response function 21A, and the refuge motion 5 of the individual persons by substituting the attributes 15 and the computed building response 3 into the refuge motion function; an image-producing means 30 to produce a superposed display Is of a three-dimensional simulation image Is1 of the building according to the design values, and a three-dimensional simulation image Is3 of the building response thus computed, and a three-dimensional simulation image Is5 of the refuge motion of the individual persons thus computed; and a display 40 to show the superposed display Is, so as to enable visual analysis of said building response and the refuge motion of the individual persons in response to the specific environmental change.
Preferably, the function 21A is stored as a function of the building structure and equipment installed on the building, and the input device 10 enters the structure design values 11 and the equipment design values 12, and the calculating unit 26 calculates the response 3 of the building to the specific environmental change by substituting both the structure design values 11 and equipment design values 12 into the function 21A. More preferably, the response function 21A is stored as a function of the building structure and indoor goods disposed in the building, and the input device enters the building structure design values 11 and equipment design values 12 and attribute values 13 of indoor goods, and the calculating unit 26 calculates the response 3 of the building to the specific environmental change by substituting the building structure design values 11, equipment design values 12, and attribute values 13 of indoor goods in the response function 21A.